Republicans

Leader of the pack?

Scott Walker has had a pretty good run as of late. He’s made some new friends and wrong-footed the right enemies and became, in fairly short order, a leader among the pack of Republican politicians running for president. Perhaps even the leader.

Roger Williams, a two-term congressman from the Dallas suburbs and longtime GOP fundraiser, will be the new chair of the House Conservatives Fund, a federal political action committee that’s been practically dormant for several cycles. The 65-year-old Williams, who cut his political teeth as a fundraiser for George W. Bush’s gubernatorial and presidential runs, says he plans to be a major fundraising force in the 2016 House races.

We've just finished tabulating the results an online poll conducted during the last week of WEEKLY STANDARD readers. They were given a chance to let us know who would be, as of now, their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices for the GOP presidential nomination. We want to thank the 3,700 readers who participated.

Democrats have not had to answer for the actions of Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (who offered to change a policy position in exchange for not being criticized, and threatened to paint President Obama as anti-Semitic and anti-women). Or for the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation (which accepts foreign donations). Or for Joe Biden (who said last week he knows Somalis because "there’s an awful lot driving cabs").

The Republican National Committee will release a web ad today that hits Hillary Clinton for "hiding" and for "infighting and "backstabbing" in Hillaryland. The ad draws a parallel between the mistakes Clinton made last time she unsuccessfully ran for president in 2008 to how her unnanounced 2016 campaign is beginning to shape up.

The first ad making the case for Scott Walker for president of the United States, from his newly formed committee called Our American Revival:

"America stands on the brink," says the voiceover. "At a time and place in our history where failed leaders preside over a nation adrift. With family incomes in steady decline. Dreams stifled. A foreign policy that apologizes for America and projects weakness abroad."

New Jersey governor Chris Christie spoke earlier today at Rep. Steve King's Iowa Freedom Summit in Des Moines. Christie may well have been the 2016 presidential candidate at the confab with the reputation for the most moderate conservative views. But while at first he was greeted with very modest applause, at the end of his 25 minute speech, he received a standing ovation from the conservative crowd:

The Republican Congress and the middle class.

Congressional Republicans can reasonably be accused of prioritizing issues about which middle-class voters care little. The president can reasonably be said to have his priorities perfectly in order, with counterproductive proposals that won’t achieve them.